A collective of social justice and human rights activists came together in 2014 to start the Mathare Social Justice Centre as a platform for grassroots social movements that connect the social struggles of urban communities with those of peasants and rural communities.

Since then, we have been involved in a number of social justice campaigns. Among the highest- impact was our foundational campaign to document systematic extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in our community. This resulted in the launch of our 2017 report: Who is Next? A Participatory Action Report Against the Normalization of Extrajudicial Killings in Mathare and other informal settlements in Nairobi.

As part of building a social justice movement in Kenya, the Mathare Social Justice Centre has sparked a grassroots social justice movement in Kenya through the formation of social justice centres across Nairobi's informal settlements. These centres advocate for social justice and democratic change through alternative grassroots political leadership and community organizing.